Page 39 of Pulse Zero
“Running would make you a target.”
“I already am.”
Something flickers across his face, something I can’t place.
All the flirting I’ve done before now has been for fun. A distraction. Survival. Now, it’s something more.Thisis desperation, a fierce desire for both of us to run away from all our problems. Together.
When he reaches up to brush a strand of hair away from my eyes, I damn near melt into him, leaning into his touch. I’m surprised I don’t start fucking purring.
“Where would we go?” he asks, and I try to ignore the way it sounds as though he’s just playing along.
I consider it for only a moment. “North Carolina.”
“Where your mom’s moving?”
I nod. It’s come up before now, and I wasn’t surprised he already knew. Turns out he knew a lot.
Unfortunately, he either doesn’t know if she’s stuck around Seattle or he refuses to tell me. Of course, I automatically think the worst, that she’s already gone and I didn’t get to say goodbye. Would she leave if she knew I was actually missing? Malcolm hasn’t paid the ransom, so maybe they’re all happy I’ve disappeared.
But if she still wants me, I’d go with her. I didn’t want to move away from the lab and abandon my father’s legacy, but…
For Reese?
I think I could.
“Look at me.”
I realize my gaze had drifted down and immediately snap it back up at his command.
All those frown lines in his face are deep as he says, “I think you have Stockholm syndrome, sweetheart.”
I grimace. “Ew. Don’t call me that.”
His tension eases again with a quiet chuckle. “Little menace?”
I bite my lip to keep my grin from gettingtoobig. “That’s better.”
Okay, so, yeah…Idefinitelyhave it.
Turns out I’d leave everything behind for him.
I shrug. “And I know. I don’t care.”
“Youknowit’s Stockholm syndrome?”
“I figured it out the other day. I mean, I’ve never had it as far as I know, so I don’t exactly have a frame of reference. But…yeah. Spending time with you out there is kind of the only thing that’s been keeping me sane. I don’t…”
I know how ridiculous I sound, how attached I’ve become in such a short amount of time. But I can’t stop it, nor do I care to.
It feels inevitable.
“I don’t want to be apart from you. I don’t think I’d…be okay.”
He shakes his head, looking too sad for my liking. “It’s not real, Cason.”
“You know whatisreal?” I smile, hoping it’ll be contagious. “The way I don’t hate it anymore when you say my name.”
I think it works. His lips tip up at the corner.
